The present disclosure relates to connectors having wired and wireless couplings. The present disclosure also relates to apparatus for associating a hospital bed to a location in a healthcare facility or for transferring data between a hospital bed and a network of computer devices in a healthcare facility, but has use in other applications and in other environments as well.
Wireless communication between patient-support devices, such as hospital beds, and a network of a healthcare facility are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,399,205, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, discloses the use of wireless communication circuitry in a plug body of a standard AC power plug and a module that is mounted in a room adjacent a standard AC power receptacle or outlet. Having circuitry included in the plug body increases the weight of the plug body and introduces plug retention issues. That is, the added weight of the circuitry in the plug body has a tendency to cause the plug to fall out of the receptacle. Also, in those embodiments of the '205 patent relying on the use of photodiodes for data transfer, the necessary alignment tolerance requirements present issues of their own. Accordingly, there is a need to improve upon the devices of the '205 patent.